Hi!
What you describe is really an awful misuse of AR.
I was in a school for 10+ years that used AR. The whole point is for
kids to have free choice. They are supposed to be allowed to read
anything they want and get academic credit for reading it. The
teachers get feedback about comprehension by vieiwing the child's
scores.
Rigidly locking kids into their reading levels is not what it's about.
I think it will make those poor kids just hate reading.
I am sure you can get some literature from the AR people that backs up
your stance about letting kids borrow what interests them.
Good luck!
Robin
--
Robin Shtulman
Librarian
Greenfield Middle School
Greenfield, MA
http://gmsl.blogspot.com/
robsht1@gpsk12.org
413-772-1360 ext. 221
Quoting Kendra Molen <kamolenreader@GMAIL.COM>:
> I am feeling the same frustrations regarding AR and the reading level.
> I'm the new librarian and the person that I replaced would check the
> book's reading level against the student's ZPD before checking it out
> to the student. They were only allowed to check out in their zone and
> they were not allowed to check out a book if it was not AR. Unless
> the student was in kindergarten. Kindergarten students were never
> allowed to check out an AR book. I don't agree with this practice so
> I let students check out books that they are interested in. I'm
> feeling the wrath of this practice from teachers and some parents. I
> let a first grader check out a cook book and the classroom teacher
> yelled at the child and made him return the book. They are not
> allowed to check out a book that isn't on their level or they get in
> trouble in the classroom. I even heard one of the teachers say that a
> kid keeps "wasting their time checking out books that aren't AR". I
> almost cried when I heard this and I think it's a horrible message to
> send to children. From the parents I get complaints because their
> first or second grader can't read the book. I suggest that they read
> it together, then they complain because their child knew the book but
> didn't pass the quiz because they couldn't read it.
>
> I get so frusterated when students say that they really want to read a
> book but that they can't because it's not on their reading level!
> Apparently some teachers will go into AR management and erase quizzes
> if the book isn't on a student's level.
>
> Kendra Molen
> EHEMS
> Baker, WV
> kamolen@gmail.com
>
>
> On 10/4/07, Becky Mosbacher <bmosbacher@hellgate.k12.mt.us> wrote:
>> I love to ask adults what their reading level is. Of course, every
>> teacher here would have a college reading level. I guess they should
>> not read John Grisham, Tom Clancy or any other book that is not a
>> college text book.
>>
>> Becky Mosbacher
>> Teacher/Librarian
>> Hellgate Middle School
>> 2385 Flynn Lane
>> Missoula, MT 59808
>> bmosbacher@hellgate.k12.mt.us
>> 406-721-2452
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: School Library Media & Network Communications
>> [mailto:LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU] On Behalf Of Cathy S. Hainstock
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 4:45 PM
>> To: LM_NET@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [LM_NET] Target: (Elem) Teachers restricting books
>>
>>
>> <snip>
>> The rights issue is a weak one in schools, unfortunately. However, kids
>> should be able to make their own reading choices because they are the
>> ones doing the reading. A child checking out books far above their
>> abilities will eventually tire of this and move to books they can read.
>>
>> And what do they do when they leave the school and the rest of the world
>> is organized by AR colors?
>>
>> Bob Koreis
>> Librarian
>> Hockinson High School
>> bob.koreis@hock.k12.wa.us
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>> I am so tired of teachers coming into the library and telling students
>> that they cannot check out certain books because they are not on their
>> reading level according to one test that was given. Am I wrong or is
>> this censorship? My principal is strongly for AR and is big on students
>> reading only books in their ZPD. What can I say to her to convince her
>> that students need to be free in the library to make their own choices
>> of what to read and that we are infringing on their rights?
>>
>> Janet L. McCoy, LMS
>> McAuliffe Elementary, Tulsa, OK
>> mccoymedia@yahoo.com
>>
>>
>>
>> Hi All,
>> I'm fairly new to this list-serv but thought those of you experiencing
>> restriction requests from staff might be interested in a book called
>> "The Rights of the Reader" by Daniel Pennac. The quote on the inside
>> cover is ... "You can't make someone read. Just like you can't make them
>> fall in love, or dream ...". In this book Pennac defends the right to
>> read for pleasure, the power of the story and how we learn to read (what
>> helps and what gets in the way). You can also find a small poster (free
>> to download) of Pennac's Rights of the Reader at
>> http://www.walkerbooks.co.uk/Downloads/The-Rights-of-the-Reader-poster
>>
>> Sometimes people worry so much about 'filling the bucket' that they
>> forget to 'light the fire'. Hope this book is of some help.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Cathy Hainstock
>> Teacher-in-the-library
>> Village School Primary
>> Croydon North, Victoria
>> Australia
>>
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